Friday, October 31, 2014

With Halloween this week, “being afraid” is a theme that’s at the front of my mind. While creepy movies, haunted houses, and more can certainly scare us, this feeling makes me think about writers’ fears. Two big ones are being afraid of failure, and on the flip side, success.

1) It’s okay to be afraid of failure, so long as you don’t let it prevent you from trying.

Every person (and not only writers) worries they won’t have what it takes. What if I’m not good enough? What if I haven’t prepared, researched, and practiced to be at the level I need to make it?

It’s normal to feel this way, but if you never try, then the fear has become more than a feeling—it takes control. YOU should hold the reins.

An important point to remember is that everyone’s definition of “good enough” is different. Your personal journey is unique, as is your success. Only you can determine if you have “failed,” and if you do, then next time you’ll be better equipped to succeed.

2) It’s okay to be afraid of success, so long as you don’t let it prevent you from trying.

This is certainly a valid fear as well. Writers can become overwhelmed by getting an agent, signing a book contract, suddenly feeling like they have readers and followers who are counting on them. What if my sequel disappoints fans? What if other writers turn to me for advice?

Nobody is perfect, and nobody expects you to be (or they shouldn’t!). Being afraid of success is understandable—it can be daunting to take big leaps, stepping out of comfort zones and familiar territory.

But others have juggled success in their careers, and so can you—whether introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in between. You’ll find your own personal balance of how to handle the transition from unpublished to published, unagented to agented, few followers to many. Whatever you find “scary” or “successful,” there’s a way to manage it.

Thankfully the writing community is a supportive one, and there is someone that’s been in your shoes too. Whether worrying about failure, success, or both, they are somewhat arbitrary terms that should not define your life, or your writing.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Writing is hard
work. You pour your heart and soul into a manuscript. You spend hours reading,
editing, and rereading it. You debate the pros and cons of self-pubbing,
finding an agent, or approaching editors on your own. You have beta readers go
through the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb before deciding to submit to a
few select editors. Twelve weeks later, you have a contract in your hands…a
real publishing contract! You read through said contract, and thinking
everything is on the up and up, you sign and return it.

YOU DID IT! YOU ARE
GETTING PUBLISHED!

A year later, you
find yourself in a situation you never expected. Sales aren’t great, your
relationship with your editor is strained, you aren’t getting emails returned,
and you’ve signed a contract that requires you to submit future works to the
publisher for first right of refusal. You want out, but now you’re stuck!

I have had many
authors contact me recently, including authors I currently represent, regarding
contracts they signed prior to representation. As an agent, I can help navigate
the murky waters of rights reversal, however, there is no guarantee that an
author will get their rights back once they’ve signed a legal and binding
publishing contract. And it stinks when I have a talented author who is stuck
in an unsavory publishing situation.

Self-pub, find an
agent, or approach editors on your own? A debate for the ages. My
recommendation? Should you decide to approach editors on your own or respond to
an open manuscript call and get a contract offer…seek out a knowledgeable agent
to help you negotiate the contract. You’ve put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears
into your manuscript! Please, do not sign that contract before ensuring you’ve
protected your rights and received the best publishing deal possible.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Sci-Fi/FantasyHolly Jennings's VIRTUAL REBEL, a New Adult science-fiction about a near future where virtual reality gladiatorial combat is the new popular pro sport and a 20-year-old is the first female captain in the league, to Anne Sowards at Ace, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Leon Husock at L. Perkins Agency (World).

Selling
my first book didn’t really play out the way I had imagined it.In my head I would get a call from an editor
with an offer, we’d haggle a bit and agree on an advance and terms on that
first phone call (hah!).I’d hang up, do
a little victory dance and call all my friends and family to tell them about
it.It would be a moment of sheer
triumph and exultation.Then, despite
the fact that not one of my authors lives in the tri-state area, we’d somehow
all end up in a room at a publisher signing the contract together, in
person.Afterwards I would go out for
drinks with my friends and celebrate.

I
did get the phone call from the editor.Admittedly, I got it while I was at the gym and had a brief conversation
in the gym lobby, covered in sweat, before telling her I’d have to call her
back later.That was the beginning, and
while it was certainly exciting, it wasn’t quite final enough for that moment I
was looking forward to.The negotiations
were conducted alternately over phone and by email, and all told they took
about two weeks and, though the haggling is done, the contract has yet to be
signed.There wasn’t really a single
moment where it felt done, and so I have yet to get those drinks with my friends.

It wasn’t the big first sale I was hoping
for, but it wasn’t insignificant.I
realized afterwards that you read about authors selling first books for
hundreds of thousands of dollars often enough that it’s sort of what you
expect.Of course, when I thought about
it I realized that the reason you read about it is because when it happens it’s newsworthy.So I didn’t quite get that moment I was
hoping for, but having sold that book gives me a quiet confidence about the
future which is, perhaps, just as valuable to me.Any career you have yet to succeed in
inevitably fills you with a certain unease about your prospects; now that that
first book is sold all the others I might sell in the future have become
infinitely more tangible and concrete.Plus, I think I’ve finally convinced my parents I have a real job.

Friday, October 3, 2014

I do hope you’ve been following our Agency blog now and can
see that we have started writing weekly posts here. I wanted to use this as an
opportunity for you to get to know the taste and style of the agents who work
here, since there are now six of us!

Three of my agents are fairly new – Tish Beaty, Rachel Brooks
and Leon Huscock.Rachel and Leon did internships
with others agents and Tish worked as an editor before she joined the Agency,
but by and large they are fresh clay for me to mold. I have been having a wonderful time teaching
them about the business and how it has changed over the years, as well as how it
is changing right now as I type this.

I love to teach, almost as much as I love to write (I am
actually teaching a class through Writer’s Digest University right now on epublishing).I began teaching at NYU in 1987 as a 24
year-old journalism grad because I had started a neighborhood newspaper in Manhattan
and complained to my Dean that there were no women teaching in the newspaper part
of the program.She said I was right and
offered me an adjunct position.And when
I left journalism and went into publishing, I taught at the Center for
Publishing for many years.

Mentoring is also important to me.I was poorly mentored as a young journalism
student at NYU.I was lucky enough to be
assigned to intern at one of the leading feminist magazines of the day under
the tutelage of a number of women who were legendary in the field.I imagined I would learn new and fabulous
things, but when I sat in on my first editorial meeting and tried to
contribute, I was told that I had nothing to offer because I hadn’t even
marched on Washington yet. So I sorted through mountains of slush and was told
to just reject everything because the editors already knew everybody worth
knowing, but I pulled an essay by Candice Bushnell and kept it for a few years
because I found her voice so compelling.If they had paid any attention to me, they could’ve launched her career.

ButI digress.

I promised that when my turn came, I would take the time to
truly mentor and try to match the interests and talents of my protégés with
what we could both offer each other.

So I am thrilled to report that mentoring Tish, Rachel and
Leon has been really exciting and interesting for me too.Each of them has enough of my taste to excite
me when they take on a new project.I
even wish I was repping some of their books, which makes it even more fun.

Tish is just the queen of erotic romance and erotica and she
loves a good dirty story.It is so much
fun to hear her discover new authors and send out their work.

Rachel has a passion for young adult, new adult and
historicals that is daunting.She is
discovering new writers every day and I am loving watching her find her
clients.

Leon has a terrific passion for sci-fi and fantasy paired
with the young adult and new adult wave of books.I hope he will find this generations’ new
voices in two of my favorite genres.

Can you tell how much I am enjoying the teaching process
with them?I am learning things about
their style and books through their experiences. And learning things about
myself as both an agent and a reader.

If you want to learn about being an agent, please feel free
to email me! We have an extensive internship program.